Andrew Taylor's Mohribold, 2011, limited time only

 

Another recent and outstanding composition, this time in the Mike Oldfield style-- but brilliantly done. As good as anything from that classic artist.  Strongly recommended to all prog fans, limited info here.

Last track, called Dorobo:

 

Gruppe Synopsis, by request, lossless

Free jazz here from East Germany. Artist info here.

Title track of the second album:

El Gusano's Fantasia del Barrio, by request

Here's a wonderful request that again I wasn't aware of, all instrumental rock and guitar-based compositions with quite a psychedelic feel but also some nice compositional elements recalling at times the wonderful Back Door albums we loved last year.  The track called Melancolia gives you a nice idea what I mean:

Not a lot of information here on the discogs listing unfortunately enough.  Another interesting track called Pleiku:

This was recorded in San Antonio, as you can see from the lovely liner notes handwritten on the back, and translated from Spanish into English, quite charmingly.

Back to Northern Illinois Univ. Jazz Ensemble with 1982's Reflections of You

In the past I posted Space Train and Magic Carpet Ride from these guys.  This was almost 8 years ago--!

Full details for this release can be found here.  Not the best cover artwork this time.

In distinction to the NTSU guys this band is more jazzy but occasionally has some progressive composition.  Probably the best is by Mark Bettcher, called Driftangle:

Trubrot's Mandala from 1972, plus their others

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In 1972 came their masterpiece which I had neglected because I was so disappointed with their earlier psych stuff. Particularly remarkable are the Beatles-style three and four part harmony vocals, never an easy task for anyone, but they make it seem so perfectly rounded and smooth as evidenced by the first and title track, complete with Eastern religious underpinnings:

I love the chromatic changes in the chords for the chorus, so wonderfully effective when combined with the Mandala theme.

The deep emotional resonance and Beatles-like sound continue on the song called Drifting, with the classic distorted harmony vocals it recalls the John Lennon song I'm Only Sleeping about drug use:

Really the songwriting is just so strong from beginning to end, tragic this album isn't better known out there among the rock fans, progressive or not.

Discography here.  Listening to the early material it's quite noticeable how much those harmony vocals improved over the few short years of the existence of this band.